Four people – including three teenagers – are accused of a hate crime in Washington state after being arrested in connection with an alleged attack on a transgender woman that left the victim hospitalized, according to authorities.
The Renton police department said the four suspects in the case first argued with the 39-year-old woman on Monday evening – then beat her after she saw them again later. Investigators say they hurled homophobic slurs at the victim, who was attacked on a street near a transit center in Renton and suffered serious injuries.
“They chased her, knocked her to the ground, and repeatedly assaulted her,” police said in their statement.
Police documents obtained by ABC elaborate, recounting how the woman told officers she first encountered the group while telling them to stop “harassing” people at a local transit center. That drew the group’s attention, and they began “charging towards her”, the police documents alleged.
She told police she fell and heard someone yell a transphobic slur. As she tried to get up and leave, members of the group began assaulting her, and one of the alleged attackers choked her. The victim reportedly said she believed she was going to die.
ABC reported that video of the reported attack – recorded by a witness – showed the group “violently punch and kick the victim” in her head and upper body, including while she was on the ground, according to what police wrote in documents. The group walked away while the woman was on the ground, police said.
Police arrested two of the suspects – boys ages 15 and 17 who were siblings – near the scene of the alleged attack soon after it happened.
A third boy, 16, was arrested Thursday on suspicion of assault and a hate crime. Police put out a plea on social media to help identify the fourth suspect, posting surveillance pictures of him, taking note of his distinctive facial hair, necklace and jacket. Court filings cited by ABC said officers identified him through his high school campus security team.
A family member on the local Crime Stoppers chapter’s website recognized the man in the photo and urged him to surrender. Police said that man then turned himself over to police to be booked on counts of assault and a hate crime.
Police did not identify the three teen suspects because of their ages. They identified the fourth as 25-year-old Ramodre Edwards.
King county prosecutors charged the two sibling suspects with assault, strangulation, great bodily harm and a hate crime. Both pleaded not guilty and were ordered to remain on electronic home monitoring, prosecutors reportedly said.
The third teen suspect was put on electronic home detention pending a charging decision from prosecutors, which was expected on 23 September, as ABC first reported, citing prosecutors. A charging decision for Edwards – whose bail was set at $300,000 – is also expected 23 September.
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